Differences In Level Of Motivation Research Articles

Motivations for Party Activism

This article reports the data from studies in four countries (United States, Netherlands, Sweden, and India) on the reasons for initial involvement in party activism and the reasons for continuance in party work. Considerable cross-national uniformity is discovered, although there are differences in level of motivation. In addition, the differences in motivational orientations for certain parties in multi-party, more ideologically conflicted systems, are particularly noted when such systems are compared with two-party and more moderately conflicted systems. The evidence suggests more ideological (purposive) motivations for party activists at the distant right and left extremes of these systems.

Motivation and Achievement in Black and White Junior College Students

Summary A number of motivational variables (need for achievement, educational aspiration, social science interest, self-concept of ability, test anxiety, and internal-external control) were correlated with grades obtained by males in an introductory social science course. There were no race or social class differences in level of motivation. The motivational variables highly correlate with achievement were as follows: for lower-class students, both black and white, social science interest; for middle-class black students, educational aspiration; and for middle-class white students, test anxiety. Middle-class black students tended to be overachievers; middle-class white students, underachievers. The findings indicate that generalizations about racial differences may not hold true for particular subgroups, and suggest interest in the subject as important in motivating lower-class students for academic achievement.

Vulnerability of Developing Brain: Relative Effects of Growth Restriction during the Fetal and Suckling Periods on Behavior and Brain Composition of Adult Rats

Growth restriction was achieved by underfeeding mother rats during pregnancy and lactation. Offspring were either ( i ) adequately nourished during the fetal and suckling periods, (ii) undernourished during both, or (iii) and (iv) undernourished during one or the other period. All rats were fed ad libitum from weaning. The post- natally underfed animals were the most efficient at running a maze for a food reward. Differences in levels of motivation were sought using a Skinner box in which rats learned to press a lever for food. Normal rats had the lowest lever-pressing rate and those re stricted both pre- and postnatally had the highest. The tendency to inhibit movement to avoid an electric shock was weakest in normal rats and greatest in the doubly deprived animals. As in the Skinner box test, rats undernourished during only one period occu pied intermediate positions. This is taken to indicate that, with respect to these two measures of behavior, the effects of undernutrition in the fetal and suckling periods were additive. Evidence for an additive effect on physical brain growth is confined to fore- brain DNA-P content, which was substantially reduced by both periods of growth retardation. Cerebellum DNA-P and weights of cerebellum and forebrain were all much more affected by the postnatal treatment. J. Nutr. 103: 1327-1338, 1973.